Lady Jackets show potential but fall late to Midlothian

Apr. 6—For the better part of five innings Thursday night, the Cleburne Lady Jackets appeared poised to make a statement in District 8-5A play. But the Lady Jackets struggled maintaining the high level of play that gave them a 6-5 lead over Midlothian, and the Lady Panthers scored eight unanswered runs over the final two innings for a 13-6 win.

In a back-and-forth battle, the Lady Jackets (15-10) struggled late in a costly loss that dropped Cleburne to 5-7 in District 8-5A play while Midlothian improved to 8-5 to improve its grasp of fourth place.

"A couple of things didn't break our way here and there," Cleburne Coach Troy Culwell said. "A couple things I didn't agree on the officials with; it is what it is. But I'm proud of them. For five innings, this team looked like the team I knew we could be this year, a team that can battle and play with anybody in this district."

The Lady Jackets got off to a strong start on a two-run double by Matti Fitzpatrick in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless second inning, Midlothian landed its first big jab with four runs on three base hits, one walk and a Cleburne error in the top of the third inning for a 4-2 lead.

However, the Lady Jackets didn't blink. Cleburne countered with two runs in the home half of the third inning to tie it up at 4-4.

The Lady Panthers went back in front at 5-4 after a costly Cleburne error in the top of the fourth inning, and Midlothian threatened to add to it with the bases loaded, but Cleburne left fielder Alexis Staton made an impressive catch on the run to get out of the inning.

After Cleburne saw Midlothian take a lead in the top half of the inning, the Lady Jackets, for a second consecutive inning, answered in the bottom half of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Azi Huber to bring the score even again at 5-5. Cleburne had a chance to take a lead with two runners in scoring position and only one out, but a line drive to third base and strikeout ended the scoring threat.

Midlothian appeared set to reclaim its lead as the Lady Panthers got two runners on base with no outs, but Cleburne pitcher Kyleigh Stotts got out of the inning without any damage done to keep the score tied, 5-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, Staton got things going with a two-out single and then took second base on a passed ball. Kamree Kirkpatrick came up big with a two-out RBI double to give Cleburne a 6-5 lead.

But things unraveled from there for the Lady Jackets. Midlothian scored three runs on two hits and three walks to take an 8-6 lead in the top of the sixth inning.

Cleburne looked for a response in the bottom of the sixth as the Lady Jackets got two runners on with only one out, but Midlothian pitcher Abby Insley got a strikeout and flyout to end the inning.

Then disaster struck for Cleburne as things quickly fell apart in the top of the seventh inning. Midlothian sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs on two hits, two walks, one hit-by-pitch and two Cleburne errors to turn an 8-6 lead into a commanding 13-6 lead.

Insley pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief for the Lady Panthers with three hits and one unearned run allowed with four strikeouts for the win. Meagan Hall went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI while Carsen Kitchens was 3-for-5 with three RBIs to lead Midlothian offensively.

Huber went 3-for-4 with one RBI and a run while Kirkpatrick was 2-for-4 with one RBI to lead Cleburne.

While Culwell said he was proud of the Lady Jackets for playing so well through five innings, he said the loss is costly for Cleburne's playoff chances.

"It's frustrating," he said. "It puts us in a situation where we can maybe only lose one more and make [the playoffs]. We're in a pretty bad situation now [playoffs-wise]. But if we battle every single team like that, that's what I'll be looking for out of these girls. We're going to finish the season with a winning record and that's a huge thing compared to where we were two years ago. I want to see them battle to the end and show me their heart.

"And I want them to show people in this district that even if we don't make the playoffs, we'll be here next year. We'll just retool a little bit and here we come."

The Lady Jackets are scheduled to visit Burleson at 7 p.m. Tuesday.